days to come. i'll be back in one hour in "the situation room." more news. among my guests, john mccain talking about the government shutdo shutdown, the need to raise the debt ceiling. in the meantime, the news continues right now with "the lead" with jake tapper. congress' approval rating drops to -- reay for this -- 5%. 5%. which begs the question -- who exactly is this 5%? i'm jake tapper this is "the lead." the national lead, everyone agrees the families of our fallen troops deserves their death benefits now. to we hit it in eight day. what's the truth? add the pop culture lead, the government is repeating a lot of the same plot lines, but

there's something about total government dysfunction that gets the creative juices flowing in hollywood. good afternoon, everyone. i'm jake tapper, welcome to "the lead." this is day nine. the partial government shutdown. the stalemate is so deep. the media is reduced to seizing on the tiniest gestures on the elected officials. is the president listening intently? or is he just suppressing a sneeze? is how speaker john boehner smiling? is he pleased? or just checking to see if he has something in his teeth. you may not think that closing parks is necessarily a big deal, but how about i told you if the nation that monday tore the nation's 100 commercial power plants is taking a furlough?

the commission it's going to furlough most of the workers this afternoon. in a new associated press poll, the approval rating for congress dropped to 5%. 5%. as a friend of mine remarked, if you factor in the margin of error, congress may be less popular than al qaeda. the president has indicated a willingness to accept a short-term deal, but only after congress opens to reopen the government and raise the del crease. the white house thinks the gop will ultimately bend. >> in the end he believe congress will do the right thing. it's unfortunate that we have to go through these manufactured crises. >> meanwhile, a house republican tells me his party is considering a new plan, in exchange for a slew of republican priorities, such as

changing some entitlement programs and paving the way for new tax reform legislation. house budget commit aye chairman paul ryan detailed much of it in an op-ed, but there was one word that did not appear in this op-ed -- obama care. remember obama care? that's the reason we have this government shutdown? house speaker john boehner returned to the floor of the house to focus on obama care. >> what a train wreck? how can we tax people for not buying a product on a website that doesn't work? how can you give big businesses a tax break and leave hard-working families out in the cold? >> there's one area of some seeming agreement to report today. the pentagon made a deal with the charity fisher house to restore death benefits families of fallen servicemen. more on that later in the show, but let's turn back to this new potential house gop plan. can it gain traction in the

senate? let's bring in republican senator pat toomey of pennsylvania. he also serves on the senate budget committee. thanks for being here. do you think at this point the only way out of this is some sort of big grand bargain type of deal, such as the one i described earlier in the show? >> i think a big grand bargain is quite unlikely, jake. honestly, i think the biggest problem is the president's insistence that he will not negotiate. the president thinks that he should be the first and only president? modern times not to have to address the most challenging issue that faces our country, which is getting or spending, getting our fiscal house in order. every previous president in my lifetime has agreed to address those things and done so over the debt ceiling. this president thinks that he should have nothing to do with that. that is completely unreasonable. i for one, and many of my republican colleagues would be very flexible about the many things we could do to begin to

little on a sustainable fiscal path, but when you can't have a conversation with the president, until he gets everything he wants, it's really hard to make progress. >> i don't know that the public shares your view of what's transpired in the last few weeks. let's put of the latest gallup favorability studies. the party is now a the a record low in the gallup poll, 28%. senator, how low do the gop's poll numbers have to go before your party realizes the american people do not approve of what republicans in congress are doing? >> i don't think the american people approve of what the president is doing, refusing to negotiate. i don't think they approve of what senator reid is doing by rejecting every republican passed bill. the house has passed four different bills. each in which they move closer to the democratic position, and senator reid chooses not to take them up. look, i'm as frustrated as anybody is. i never thought it was a good idea to insist on the complete

defunding of obama care in return for funding the government. i never thought that was achievable, but it's obvious this bill is badly flawed. speaker boehner is right when he points out that the president has granted all kinds of waivers to other groups. so is it really unreasonable to ask for a delay for individuals and families who are subject to that? i don't think that's unreasonable. >> i don't think the american people think that trying to alter or improved obama care is unreasonable. i think that based on polls, they feel the way you say you do, which is ties this to funding the government is irresponsible and unreasonable. that's what house republicans did. >> you and i disagree about that. i think when people realize the only vehicle we have to bring this administration to the table on making even some modest tweaks on doing anything about achieving some fiscal discipline, these are the only vehicles for you. i would remind everything it was

in 2011 over the debt limit that the president agreed to spending caps that are scheduled, if we live with them, they will save $2 trillion, which isn't nearly enough, but it is an important start. that was agreed to over the debt limit. this is the only time we've been able to get this president to agree to do anything to solve the actual problem we have. >> let's turn to the debt limit in the two minutes we have left. you and many republicans are arguing that it is irresponsible to suggest we are going to default on our death. you're not saying that it's no big deal if we do it. i mean, you are a reasonable man, you believe that we should raise the debt ceiling before october 17th, right? >> i would much prefer that we find a way to make some progress on the underlying problem and raise the debt ceiling. it will become disruptive if we go for an indefinite period of time without raising the debt ceiling, but i will also say that it is completely untrue

that we will necessarily default on our debt. you know, the ongoing tax revenue coming into washington is about 12 times what it takes to service our debt. the payment mechanism is separate for did the service from all over payments, so the treasury secretary and president would have to willfully choose to cede a financial catastrophe. i would certainly hope they would never choose to do that. i would rather they come to the table, let's work on something that begins to solve our problem, and not have to confront this. >> but if they choose to pay down the interest on the debt, as you say, there are other things medicare checks that might not go funded. even if we're talking about paying the debt and whether or not that would cause a default, you remember lehman brothers, what happened when that collapsed, when the -- the stock

market -- the rye tirmt savings, for all those pennsylvaniaens you represent, that would go down hundreds of points. >> it's not clear what would happened. interestingly, the bond market has been, you know, the biggest market in the world, has been watching this whole debate, and it hasn't budged. so investors in u.s. treasuries don't seem to be too worried that they're not going to get their interest. by the way, i've introduced legislation that would require the treasury's secretary to prioritize interest on our debt, social security payments, and auktive-duty mitt tears, including the problems that there weren't enough cash, the treasury would be authorized to borrow such sums as necessary. that's not the path we want to go down, but i can't control the outcome of a vote, and can't force the president to be reasonable about these things.

you can't -- and eecon-defcon 3. jitters rising. -- you really believe there won't be any negative market reaction? who would take on the responsible of the office. sit down with us, and address the fundamental problems that cause us to keep borrowing so much money. we're spending too much. and i'm not asking to completely solve the problem. how about we make just a bit of progress? i don't think that's unreasonable. >> well, i can't disagree with your final point. i really hope we do make some

progress. senator pat toomey, from the great commonwealth, thank you so much. coming up, the you want was disturbed to learn that death benefits were cut off to military family. a move was made to fix that today. why did he not know it was going on? 2016 keeps coming up whether governor christie wants it to or not.

6. welcome back to "the lead." more now on our national lead. in a few minutes president obama will be meeting with house democrats about -- guess what -- the ongoing stalemate and looming dead ceiling deadline. it's great they're all finally talking. will this lead to any action? joining mess live is democratic senator dib durbin of illinois. senator durbin, thank for being here. one thing the republicans say that does seem to have some resonance, president obama's message is i'm not negotiating, i'm not negotiating. that's just not how this works. they point out there have been previous negotiations over both opening the government and the debt ceiling. why is it so unreasonable to expect some sort of negotiation? >> because the president remembers what happened two years ago when the republicans again threatened not to extend the debt ceiling. it was devastating to our economy. it took money out of our economy, out of people's savings

account and retirement. it jeopardized the credit rating of the united states of america for the first time in history. the president said this many and no president should ever face that kind of blackmail. he said he will negotiate, but only after we've reopened the government and paid the bills. >> but surely you agree we're not in the situation, you can see john boehner, maybe you would be a better speaker if you had stayed in the house and the democrats had kept the house, but you're watching him, you can't understand he can't bring nothing back to his caucus. there needs to be some deal. why is just demying boehner anything, even things you know that president obama has offered before, such as tweaks to entitlement or social welfare programs, such as a promise for tax reform? why is that so unreasonable? >> there was a headline in one of the local hill newspapers, that said the republicans don't know how tougts out of this

mess. they have reached a point. remember what they started off by saying? senator cruz said this was all be defunding obama care. we haven't heard about that in a while. what's happened issed script keeps changing. they're trying to find an end game and can't find it. let me tell you the end game should be an honest -- reopen the government, pay the bills and then we'll discuss all these things. the president would say that u you i would say that. let's have a meaningful discussion about and put it all on the table. at the end of the day we're all in this right now. their approval ratings are far worse than the democrats' approval ratings or president obama's approval ratings, but we are all in this. the government's is now opening.

there are kids who depend on formula through the wic program, and we need a way out of this. not to mention -- why isn't the democratic party not doing anything to acknowledge the reality of where we are and trying to figure out a way to get out of it together? it doesn't matter how we got here to a degree. we're here. now what? >> jake, i think you probably would guess, and it would be true, there are conversations under way to what we will discuss, you know, what we will negotiate over. what things will be on the table. what we have said is open the government, pay our bills and let's have this honest conversation. think about this. we're going to face this regularly, the next time this continuing resolution temporary spending bills expires, the next time we have to extend the debt ceiling. this is going to come over and over again. if each time we lay off 800,000 federal workers, or end up interrupting the services the this government, or jeopardizing

our international credit rating, it's disastrous for a great country like america. the president is trying to establish a standard of conduct that is reasonable and bipartisan and puts everything on the table. i think that's the way to approach it. >> senator, obama care has ruled out in the last week. it's hard to argue that it's been a super success. i don't know what you're hearing in illinois, but what we're hearing here is people are still having a lot of problems getting onto the website, signing up. there is a mandate that individuals get this health insurance by the end of the year, even if they can't get onto the website. what is so crazy about delaying the individual mandate, given the fact that so many people are having trouble even getting in and signing up. >> jake, the reason why the people -- and i've been on -- because members of congress will be buying their health insurance through they insurance exchanges. i went on line and would price it. i would pay more in my income category. of course i should, but those in

the middle and lower income categories are getting premiums they can't believe. why are they so low? there would be a mandate that everybody has to buy health insurance, unless you're satisfied with what you have, everybody has to have health insurance, at least through the exchange. if the insurance pool is just open to those who are really sick, imagine what the premiums will be. we want everyone in the pool. >> they can't get on the pool, though, senator. >> let me explain this to you. we have 9 million people who have already tried to get online. i think the number is even higher. i met with a surgeon from boston, well known, and i asked how did the massachusetts plan get started? he said we had some problems at the beginning with the internet, getting i don't think line, but once that was smoothed out, it's 98% of massachusetts residents now have health insurance. so let's let a few glitches at the beginning sour the ultimate goal of giving people who have

never been able to afford health insurance this kind of protection. >> i would argue it's more than a few glitches, but i want to ask you, you mentioned something a few minutes ago about conversations that have started about where this might ultimately lead. what can you tell you about that? are they bipartisan conversations? >> yes, they are. >> and of course we made it clear, we're open to these conversations. once you open the government, once we pay or debts, we're ready to do it. some of us have some credibility, some cred, if you will, with folks on the other side. we've worked with them. we can work together on a bipar san basis. i don't know what will happened in the house, but the senate ought to roll up its sleeves and get to work on with. >> senator dick durbin, with cred, i appreciate you keeping it real. >> thanks, jake. kevin madden, senator ted cruz told "people" that the shutdown has affected his family

too. he said on the weekend trip to the capitol -- and -- now, between this and the fact there's no towel service in the congressional gyms, i ask you, will this madness ever stopped? >> i don't think that will get much simply from folks. the fact is we looked lick to let them pick apples. not going in the right direction. >> no towel service. we'll be right back with more. customer erin swenson ordered shoes from us online but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy. (both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics.

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today john boehner was once again railing. >> the house has been clear. we wanted to reopen the government and provide fairness to all americans under the president's health care law. has the message in the house been really clear? i'm not sure about that. in an op-ed, congressman paul ryan seemed to steer away from defunding of the obama care law specifically, and he appropriate instead something of a grand bargain.

did the goal posts just move? is obama care still enemy number one for the government? let's bring in our panel. ryan lisbon, trace in sefel, that's a new description we have for you, and cnn contributor and former adviser to the romney campaign, kevin madden. kevin, there was kind of a -- i wouldn't say isn't that correcty, but it wasn't without judgment, a tweet from amanda carpenter, who is speech communication adviser for ted cruz. he was looking for a way out, and he didn't talk about obama care. is this where the republican party hoping to go? >> i think you're looking at that -- he laid out a vision for what appears after the 2014 elections. that may not be the people's most -- their greatest desire,

but i think 2014, for all intents and purposes is going to be focused -- obama care will be the center of the universe. so many republicans right now see it as a vehicle to argue about the economy, to argue about the growth of government, and to argue about what republicans can do to draw a contrast with their democratic opponents. so when i looked at that op-ed, and said what this looks like the future of the republican party can be, but right now, i still think it's focused entirely on obama care. >> the subject we would all be discussion, ryan, if it weren't for the fact that the government has been shut down and we're facing the debt ceiling. >> what happened is ryan, boehner and cantor had a strategy for this fall fund, right? their strategy was use the debt ceiling as leverage to force a major agreement on the business fiscal issues, entitlement reform and tax reform. it got hijacked by the pop you list to libertarian right wing of the party, with ted cruz and

some of the outside groups. they decided actually the fight we want to have is over government shutdown and obama care. boehner was forced to have that fight. now it looks like boehner, ryan and cantor are trying to steer things back to the original battle they wanted. it's like you want to be in one ballots, but unfortunately you've led the troops into a separate battle. you haven't finished that one yet, yes trying to phyto'bama here. >> tracy, everybody's numbers are going down. the dick durbins of the world are not immune to what is going on. if we do hit this debt ceiling, at the end of the day, the stock market goes down, president obama will take the hit. >> i believe he has already. it's been a collective hit, as you say, so what happens next? there really a bottom for the republican party? it seems like they're rapid by

going to find out. historic lows for the party, a laughable single digit for congress. overall, it's interesting to not just watch the trends, but try to imagine how low can these numbers possibly get. >> i guess the question is the one i asked senator durbin, which is, okay, the how republican party, the shutdown happened because of the house republican party. you can argument that it's continuing -- but the shut jeerch aredown happened because of them. do they have an obligation to try to help john boehner out of this? >> it seems to me that every single day that's what democrats are attempting to do. >> really? >> to remind everyone who is listening how they were willing to get to that compromise, what they are willing to not do, which, of course, as the president has continued to say, be held hostage, the idea of

ransom, all of the analogies that are invoked. what the democrats are saying every single day. >> how do we get out of this? >> i think your question is really good. on the right, there are a lot of people who are talking about default is not such a big deal on the left, there's an argument that if it comes to default, obama will just have to let that happen, because it's worse for obama to negotiate. that's sort of a dangerous position to be in as well. at some point the president -- he's the only person that is the president of everyone. at some point he's got to help to figure a way out of this, even though as you point out, the blame lies with the house republicans for getting us into that, but you govern washington with the house of representatives that you have, not the one you wish to have. >> very rumsfeld-ian. >> i think the way to get out is by pumping it.

this congress has been good at giving themselves more time. one of the big problems we have, i think that's why the american public is so frustrated. we're gonching from crisis to crisis. i think in three weeks, maybe even three months. we'll be back against having the same debate. >> maybe another blue ribbon -- >> a super-committee. >> remember, the last one we had, the simpson bowls, republicans wouldn't even allow a vote on the senate floor. i don't even hear people talking about it. >> you know, the usual pressure points that we used to get, low ratings starting to make people feel like, hey, we've been too far, to use one of the terms, we touched the stove and it was too hot. they're not as motivated by these bad ratings. i think they think that's built into the equation. >> a fortress in the house of

representatives, so they are immune. we need to go to break right now. i'm sorry. thank you so much. we'll continue this. coming up on "the lead" many put their lives on the line, and now receipt advance are being rewarded with it empty bank accounts. and if you think you've seen this episode before, it's because you have, only it was a lot funnier when julie louis-dreyfuss was laying people off. mes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions-- it matters. ♪ i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis.

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other serious stomach conditions may exist. don't take nexium if you take clopidogrel. relief is at hand for just $18 a month. talk to your doctor about nexium. welcome back. we're now at the point of this shoutdown well, at least the senate champlain is praying. >> lord, when our federal shutdown delays payments of death benefits to the families of children dying on faraway battlefields. for our lawmakers to say enough is enough.

cover or shame with the robe of your righteousness. forgive us -- >> amen. >> it's not quite a robe of righteousness, but the pentagon is entering into a business contract with fisher house, who will pay the financial aid owed to the families until the government is reopened and can be reimbursed fully the the house voted unanimously a short time ago to restore the benefits. veteran secretary testified today on how the shutdown is hurting the men and women he serves. >> shutdown does not end in the coming week, they will not be able to ensure 1 november checks to more than 5.18 million beneficiaries. that acts for about.25 billion

that people are expecting. congressman miller, thanks for being here. the v.a. broadband fits secretary is saying they're not losing the ground they gained because of this partial government shutdown. over 5 million checks might not go in november? >> well, you have two different questions. one is the disability claim backlog. i disagree with the secretary on the amount of progress made. he was to talk about the backlog is going down, but he won't talk about how there is an increase in individuals that are now claiming that they -- that their ratings are in correct. you obviously care about balance, you chair this committee, because you care about veterans. >> speaker of the house john boehner in march said he opposed livening of obama care to the spending bill, because it would

lead to a government shutdown. responsible members of the house republican leadership opposed doing this, because they knew it would lead to a government shutdo shutdown. >> why would you go along with this, knowing that it would hurt veterans and their families this way? >> jake, there's a couple things to talk about. number one is forward-funded. for a two-years period instead of a one-year period. and nobody wanted to see where he had a government shutdown. obviously we knew, and i've been saying in august they did not have the votes in the senate in order to defund obama care, but certainly an opportunity to start a negotiation or a discussion with the president and senator reid over in the senate i think was very important, but they don't want to negotiate the so they decided they would see the government shut down.

>> sir, with all due respect, the original funding bill defunded obama care, then there were all sorts of provisions and follow-up bills to gut it. these were nonstarters, they are we are not negotiable items. this was leaves that was passed by the house, passed by the senate, found constitutional by the supreme court, and, again, i know you car about these veterans. this was entirely predictable. >> just because you say it's not negotiable, that becomes the fact? >> no, sir, because the senate and president obama saying i'm not -- there aren't enough votes. the matt says it's not negotiable. you don't have the votes in the senate or in the white house or the support in the white house. >> jake, we negotiate all the time, and for you to perpetuate the rumor that it's not negotiable, you're buying into what the white house has been trying to say all along. >> i'm sorry.

did i miss some wonderful negotiation that's gone in the last week in which there's been some sort of achievement? >> no, there's been no negotiation. you know why? because the presidnt has chosen not to do it. you want to go back and talk about obama care. it's a much larger issue. we're talking about debt deficits and spending that our children and grandchildren for many years to come will have to pay. >> i'm not disagrees, we've conned that in my how and we'll continue. i just asked senator durbin. my point is this strategy was entirely predictable. >> why doesn't senator durbin urge senator reid to pass the bill that the house has already passed that fully funds -- not just in a partial clean c.r., but fully funds military construction and veterans affairs. take veterans off the table. we're not the ones using them as

political pawns. there have been four bills that have been sent over to the senate 127 days harry reith has sat on the funding bill for veterans. >> i take your point. i have asked democrats that question. i'm not going to respond on their behalf. >> what did they say? >> the answer of the democrats about why they won't -- are you talking about the piecemeal? you're talking about the larger veterans' bill. >> again, that's where people are getting confused. they're saying we should not fund the government piecemeal. the fact is, jake, if we use regular order, it is done piecemeal through 12 different appropriations bills. we have already sent the veterans funding bill, the d.o.d. over to the senate and they have chosen not to take them up. >> you'll have to take your questions to him. i would be a bad spokesman for him. i have not asked him that question. i do want to read a her written to me and get your response.

a friend of mine, a veteran, and her husband was killed fighting in afghanistan. she is worried about her disability payments, she's worried about her survivors benefits and g.i. bill. she's mad at everyone in coke right now. mad at president obama, too. she said she fought for this country. she was okay with the fact -- not okay with it, but she understood her husband dying to fight for this country. she does not understand why congress and the president cannot get together and solve this problem, so she doesn't have to worry about her paycheck. can you give her an answer? i want i sure can. again it's going to sound political when i say this, but only four people in the house of representatives voted against the veterans funding bill back in june. 127 days ago. we could solve the issue that she is most concerned about if harry reid would just bring that particular bill up for a vote on the floor. all right.

congressman jeff miller, thank you so much. we appreciate you coming in. >> thank you, jake. sure, you heard success sorry before, but my next guest, alexis ohan onwill show you how to start your own online empire. later in hollywood, a government shutdown is fodder for fresh plot lines. stay with us. ♪ [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!

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now it's time for our "money lead q he start add website with his roommate and by his mid 20s, he changed the face of the internet and became a millionaire. good news. reddit alexis ohan onhas drawn up a veritable blueprint "without their permission" how

the 21st century will be made, not managed. he joins me now. thanks for being here. first, explain the title. >> we talk about it 'permissionless innovation. if you have a great idea, whether it's a business like facebook, twitter, reddit, or an argument project, you don't need anyone's permission. all the resources are need are the laptop and an interset connection. >> we can talk about the ways that the internet has radically changed -- what will blow or minds? what in 20 years will we say we couldn't even do that right there. >> there are still so many instances where the relationship we have with the internet is kind of forced. it's a device we turn on. 10 or 15 years down the road it

will be more seamless. what that will mean is certainly for the generation of people, and i extoll this in the book and talk about it at every one of my stops in the tour. if you can write the code, if you are a programming, you have that skill, this century is yours for the taking. as market -- soft -- so i think the internet and software will become and bigger and bigger part of our lives. reddit, and you'll disagree perhaps, but it has at least a reputation for appealing to, shall we say, a slightly geekie demographic. maybe that's not fair, but i'm sure you would agree that you would like reddit to have a greater reach. how can you do that? >> we just broke 80 million unique visitors a month. larger than the country in france, so the user base is massive. i was heartened, a recent pew study put hispanic, about 11% of

reddit using. so we have what is already a rather diversion community of 80 million-plus, but the thing that will keep pushing this forward and get us to the scale of twitter is simply getting people on december to these sub-reddits, if they realize in brooklyn, there's a great sub there. or the university of jo jo has a great sub-reddit too. you want to talk about the boston mar a -- i'll ask you to write it up and we'll put it on the blog form the internet is just as good -- so thank you so much for coming. the book is "without their permission." alex inohanian, good luck with your book. >> thank you. next how hollywood has handled government shutdowns of

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leave it to hollywood to find laughs in the shutdown. that's next. new brakes help you stop faster and safer. that's why they deserve... a brake dance. get 50% off new brake pads and shoes.

now to the pop culture lead. washington, d.c. calls it a partial government shutdown, but hollywood calls it something else. comedy gold. we've seen this on primetime tv. harry reid and the president are putting our country on a dangerous path. >> the government is closed, and it's closed because they have helped close it. >> if you're starting to feel like you've seen this show before, that's probably because you have. >> effective tomorrow morning, the entire government will be shut down until further notice. >> reporter: i'm not just talking about the '95-'96 shutdown. there's nothing funny our exciting about real-life shutdowns, but they can make for being leif and big drama on tv. >> we're in shutdown mode, i have to have a skeleton staff. >> in "veep" julia louis-drive

fills stars as a bumbling vice president. >> sue, yeah -- >> on "veep" national parks gets shut down, too, but instead of veterans storming the gates of their own monument. in the fictional "veep" a furloughed park ranger leads to someone being eaten by a bear. >> i'm to blamed because some goober got eaten up by a bear? >> the political tension is who's up and who's down. >> paul is a media reporter for "the washington post." >> it makes for comedy and drama, but in a real shutdown, the effect is on hundreds of thousands of people and how they're affected. >> reporter: while the real-life president is engaged in a war of wills with congress. >> you don't negotiate by putting a gun to the other person's head. >> you can always look to "the

west wing" for inspiration. >> i'm not going to negotiate with someone who puts a gun to my head. >> reporter: it only two two episodes to end the showdown, unless the kettle call the pot black, hollywood has shutdowns of their own. the 100-day writers' strike crippled the entire industry in 2007 and 2008. maybe that time on the picket lines helped inspire nbc writers for "parks & recreation". >> the entire government will be shut down until further notice. >> i'm sorry i just started hearing large circus music in my head. what did you say? >> reporter: maybe the senate chaplain had the right idea. >> have mercy upon us, o god, and save us from the madness. that's it for "the lead."

join me took at 11:00 p.m. for a cnn special. we'll speak with angus king form for now i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." with a private found to\s . front the money, there are some debt ceiling deniers who are reswrekting the forecast the economic ka at that time troir. who is right? we'll have the debate this hour. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room."